The hobbies of a hobbyless man
by immortal-memory
Summary: AU,an original story featuring Hellsings favorite butler Walter C.Dollneaz.Integral thinks Walter should leave Hellsing altogether,however there's a loophole,but he'd have to stay with a family member he hasn't seen in a long time...
1. Unexpected Twists

**This is an original story.**

**It hasn't really got aything to do with Hellsing, the main character currently called and based onWalter is just based on one of my favorite characters from that anime and manga. I do not own him or any other Hellsing character I mention in this story, I do however own all of the original characters that are featured in this story.**

**The reason that I'm submitting this here at is because I want feedback and it does contain Hellsing elements in it not that many though.**

**anyway: **

**THANKS& ENJOY!**

**-Immortal-Memory**

* * *

Walter walked down the corridor, he was limping slightly, it seemed old age hadn't forgotten about him. Lord Hellsing had summoned him to meet her at once, something which she wanted to discuss with him. Walter had no idea what it would be about, probably just the usual, documents and paperwork. He turned a corner and prepared himself to face a huge amount of paperwork, he didn't mind paperwork at all; it was just that old age didn't seem to allow him to keep going for as long as he knew he could do.

At the end of the hallway he saw huge oak wooden double doors. Integra's office. He stopped and sighed. He looked at his old hands, old and paper-like. Maybe he should retire, but it would just be too difficult for him to say goodbye to his spot here at the Hellsing organization. Besides, where would an old dog like him go? Sure, he still had some relatives here and there, well actually he only had one relative left; a niece.

The last time he had seen her, was when she was 16 years of age. It had been right after the murder of his brother James and his wife Adrianna. She came home from a normal day at school, to find her home covered in messages written in her parents' blood. The scene upstairs was even more horrifying, it would even have made the Iscariots faint headed. After she had screamed , she went hysterical and ran to the neighbours who phoned the police and told them what they **_thought_** had happened. After the police had gone through the house and carried her parents' bodies to the morgue, they took her to the downtown Canadian police station.

There they had phoned him and told him what they knew. His niece had gone into shock and hadn't said a word. She just sat there mumbling in Latin. Walter, who's skills in Latin had never been perfect, didn't understand a single word she said but he guessed it was just a motor reflex thing. After that her grandparents mothers side picked her up and he didn't hear much about her anymore.

He sighed and remembered her last e-mail:

"_Dear uncle Walter,_

_It's been a while since we spoke to each other, huh? I just wanted to tell you I passed my finals and have graduated successfully, I'm now packing for my leave to Japan! I got accepted to Tokyo Medical university, I'll be leaving tonight and my stuff will arrive next week._

_Anyway, I have to get going or I'll miss my airplane! Best of luck in England and with your job!_

_Lots of love:_

_Avril Maria Jennifer Dorne"_

He couldn't help but smile at the memory of her e-mail. She had never forgotten to write him one, how she had gotten her hands on his e-mail address was still a mystery to him. Then he remembered, it was like a train hitting him in the back, his appointment with Integra! How could he forget? He knocked on the door, he heard Integra's muffled voice say "Come in", and he pushed open the door.

"What kept you Walter? Was it Alucard again?"

"No Sir, I was just walking down memory lane and lost track of time", Integra gave him a concerned look and a slight frown. She made a gesture with her hand telling him to sit down, Walter walked over to one of the chairs standing across of Integral's desk and sat himself down carefully.

"Walter, you can't keep this up. You are getting too old for this job". The words hit Walter like a bullet to the chest. Was she about to tell him to retire?

"I think it would be best for you to retire", Integral didn't want to finish her sentence. The look on Walters face was awful, it ripped her heart apart telling him this. But it had to be said, he was getting to old for this.

"Isn't there another option, apart from retirement?"

"Well…there is the option of a long break. Like a vacation, but considering the fact that you have no relatives to be staying with, it would be difficult to locate you anywhere".

"I understand Lord Hellsing…", Walter mused over the idea of a break, would Avril mind him staying with her for a few months? He hesitated, if he was to take a break it would be by short notice and maybe she wouldn't want him so close and in her personal life…

Integral looked at him sadly, yet curiously. Walter knew what she expected him to do; that was give up and retire, but he just couldn't…not yet anyway.

"I still have a niece. She now lives in Japan, if it's alright with you Lordship; I'll contact her and ask her if it's okay for me to stay with her for a while".

Lady Integral Wingate Hellsing nodded and for the first time in a long while smiled warmly at Walter.

"You do that, take a break and relax…you've earned it…"

5 minutes later he was in his quarters dialling the number his niece had left him in a separate e-mail after she had arrived at her new home. As the phone was ringing over, Walter got nervous. What was he to say? _"Hello Avril, long time no see. I need to avoid retirement so can I bunk at your place for a few months?" _, he could already imagine her reaction. Suddenly the phone stopped ringing and somebody answered…

"**_Ohayo gosaimas, watashi iie aru koko messelli ato ni beep, sumimasen…sayonara", _**to Walters great relief it was her answering machine. He waited somewhat impatiently for the beep to come…

_**BEEP**_

"_Hey Avril, listen I know this is all short notice, but how would you feel about me moving in for a couple of months? I do have some urgency behind this message, because I need an answer by Monday afternoon…anyway…love you like a daughter and I can't wait to hear an answer. Your uncle Walter"_

As Walter put down the phone he felt somewhat comforted. Sure he hadn't exactly told her why he was coming over, but it wouldn't hurt to keep certain things from her. And he didn't want to hurt her feelings either, all he wanted to do was just be able to keep his job for a few more years.

After about another two hours of work, Walter settled down and decided he should check his e-mail, as he typed in his password, something started flickering on and off on his toolbar. It was an instant messenger, he clicked it and read the message:

**LOVE TO LOVE YOU  BUT THEN AGAIN  HATE TO HATE YOU says:**

_You rang?_

Walter instantly recognised that Adams Family catch phrase to be Avrils. He was happy to have someone to talk to at this time of night…other than vampires.

**LOVE TO LOVE YOU  BUT THEN AGAIN  HATE TO HATE YOU says:**

_You there uncle¿_

**When one is invisible, he dares more than others says:**

_Yes I'm here…_

**LOVE TO LOVE YOU  BUT THEN AGAIN  HATE TO HATE YOU says:**

_Got your message, shocked the living daylight out of me…if that makes any sense…( )_

**When one is invisible, he dares more than others says:**

_I don't really understand what you mean…_

**LOVE TO LOVE YOU  BUT THEN AGAIN  HATE TO HATE YOU says:**

_Well lets face it…you were or/and would be the last person who I'd expect to call. I mean you hardly even send me an e-mail…not that I care…_

Walter paused, his fingers hovering above the keyboard. Was she sad? Was that why she decided that this was better than giving him a collect-call back? He'd always accept charges for those if it was her…

He was about to type an "I'm sorry" when Avrils new message blinked in front of him:

**LOVE TO LOVE YOU  BUT THEN AGAIN  HATE TO HATE YOU says:**

_0-) relax man, all's good. It just came to me as a surprise, that's all!_

**When one is invisible, he dares more than others says:**

…_okay then…so can I stay?_

**LOVE TO LOVE YOU  BUT THEN AGAIN  HATE TO HATE YOU says:**

_Well…you can start packing your bags…about the staying or…moving in with me… I'm not so sure…_

**When one is invisible, he dares more than others says:**

_Oh…_

**LOVE TO LOVE YOU  BUT THEN AGAIN  HATE TO HATE YOU says:**

_JUST KIDDING, GOD LIGHTEN UP MAN! OFF COURSE YOU CAN COME! YOU ARE FAMILY FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! Oh damn, gotta get going. I have exams coming up again! Bye bye, can't wait to see you!_

And with that said she had logged off, even before he could say anything else. He sighed and logged off as well, what was an old dog like him to do? Was he to tell her the whole truth? Why hadn't she just called him instead of waiting when he came online?

The questions buzzed around in his mind as he recalled the very first time he saw her. His niece had always been exceptional, she was one of three. They had been triplets, Enrico Julius Dorne, Michael James Dorne and then you had Avril Maria Jennifer Dorne. Doctors had proclaimed it strange that there was a girl between the two boys, he remembered the letter and the pictures. He remembered her fourth birthday and he saw her again as the twelve year old tomboy. Then he saw her again as the pale mumbling 16 year old, her brothers had disappeared, no trace of them was ever uncovered. He couldn't imagine how she felt about seeing him, especially since he never really spoke to her...

He closed his eyes and concentrated on the mental pictures he had of her. He felt himself drifting off to sleep, which was a luxury he couldn't allow himself. He tried to stay awake but his attempts were futile as he drifted off into a deep sleep…

He awoke to a warm feeling creeping over his skin. He awoke drowsily and heavy minded, last nights conversation still displaying itself on the computer screen. He got up and stretched himself, several cracks caught his ear. He ignored them, like he did every morning. He resumed his usual tasks around the organization, setting up breakfast for Integra, checking up on Alucard and Ceres. He couldn't imagine himself retired from this job, or at least he found it hard to. He just couldn't imagine what it was like, living life at ease, being able to relax every now and then. Not having to watch out for Alucards' usual tricks, not having to take care of the artillery for those two down in the basement…

He was to leave for Tokyo airport tomorrow morning at 9 o'clock. Integral had insisted on that Pip Bernadotte drove him to the airport, Walter didn't really care either way. It was all good for him, just as long as he didn't need to retire just yet. It was already late when he started packing his suitcase for the trip, he just took what he expected to be necessary; shirts, trousers, a vest, gloves, underwear, monocle cleaner tissues, a few ties and…

He looked at his murderous "dental floss" with a pained expression. Should he take it with him? What if…no! He shouldn't even be thinking about that possibility! There was no way in the seven heavens that vampires or ghouls would appear at his niece's house! But still…it wouldn't hurt him packing them, just as a little thing to feel more comfortable. He snatched them up and put them in the suitcase with the rest of his things before anything would change his mind.

He closed his suitcase and sighed heavily. What did the world have in store for an old dog like him? How could he go there for a few months and expect to be able to relax? How would he even be able to recognise Avril after not having seen her for such a long time? Why was he fearing the worst every time the word relaxation came to his mind? Why did he have sudden panic attacks whenever he thought this break was actually a good idea?

Walter took his monocle out of his eye and wiped it clean. He always did this whenever he was nervous, not that there were many occasions presenting themselves to make him feel nervous. Come what may, he had to just go with the flow…or something like that. His head felt heavy, as though he had a few thousand tons of coal inside his head instead of brains. The room started spinning. He sat down carefully and shakily on his bed. What on earth was happening to him? This wasn't the first time this week this had happened, he had these 'attacks' more and more often. He tried not to worry too much about it, old age; nothing more. If he repeated that to himself enough times, he would start to believe it.

He started nodding off to sleep. Tomorrow was going to be the big day he would get on the plane and meet his niece for the first time in a long while…

Maybe that was why he was so worked up about the trip…

He felt himself losing his conscious, he felt his eyes close. He felt his feeble mind drift away as he fell down onto the bed. Only to hit it forcefully, while he was in a heavy, peaceful sleep…

It was half past seven when he awoke the next morning. The grey England skies stretching themselves like the wings of some gigantic bird, as usual they were grey skies; filled with that eerie feeling which will cause you to start thinking about anything which just isn't happy. He didn't stretch, leaving the knots which were cramping his muscles together tightly tied. He just wandered to the bathroom and took a shower and brushed his teeth. He grabbed some clothes which were quite unusual for him; a t-shirt and just some plain jeans. He couldn't go to his niece in his work-clothes, it would be inappropriate and maybe she's be on to him quicker than a pack of greyhounds.

The knock on the door yanked him out of his musings, sending his previous thoughts into temporary oblivion.

"Come in", Walter said while he was adjusting his attentions back onto his bag full of…stuff.

The door creaked open, as if the person was unsure about disturbing him…or maybe even entering the room itself. Walter immediately assumed it was Ceres, but that would be impossible: she was a vampire! She couldn't possibly be walking around the mansion during the day time! He turned around and was faced with…RRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

Walter awoke from his slumber with a jolt. The alarm had erupted into a fanatical rampage of screeching sounds. He rubbed his temples and whacked the annoying piece of machinery with enough force to get a few dozen or so cracks in the hard black plastic. What the hell was that all about? He retreated his hand from the offended alarm clock and read the time displayed in red letters. Half past seven. _Okay…STRANGE, but then again; what would you expect on this day, old dog…_ Walter thought to himself as he hauled himself from his spot on the bed.

He practically dragged himself to the bathroom, forced himself into the shower and tortured his hands to turn the hot water tap open. Did he have to leave? Wasn't there any other way out of retirement? Did anyone really care about his temporary leave? He washed his hair over and over again without really noticing it. By the umpteenth time of running his fingers through his now overly clean hair he decided to get out of the shower. He dressed himself into a plain T-shirt and a pair of jeans, he tied his hair back and grabbed his suitcase. He put his hand on the doorknob, but he just couldn't open the door without one more glance around the room. So he did, he threw the room another glance.

He opened the door and exited his quarters...


	2. Meeting Ms Conner

He opened the door and exited his quarters. Pip Bernadotte was already waiting for him outside the main entrance. He stepped into the black BMW that already had the engine up and running, Pip closed his door and got in into the drivers' seat. The first part of the ride was completed in pure indistinct able silence. Finally Pip spoke up;

"So where does your niece live?"

"Just outside of Tokyo, Japan"

"Christ! Did she want to lose you or somethin'?"

Walter didn't know what to say. Maybe she did want to get rid of him, but then again maybe he was just exaggerating Pips' joke to a too extreme level.

"Relax man! Just joking!"

"Don't worry about it…"

"So…this niece of yours, is she hot?"

"Excuse me Bernadotte?"

"Hey! Hey! Hey! I was just.."

"I know; just joking…"

Captain Pip Bernadotte looked his way with a sly grin playing on his lips. He knew that type of grin all to well, it was the type of grin he gave the police woman; Victoria Ceres. It was the type of grin a wolf would give you., not that the captain resembled any type of wolf he just didn't have the brains for it. After that short conversation, the captain made a few remarks about the Japanese culture which amused Walter.

It didn't take long for them to reach the airport. Walter got out while Pip got his bag out of the trunk. Walter thought about what type of adventure was waiting for him. He shook hands with the captain and said goodbye. The line for the flight check for flights to Japan wasn't short but then again it wasn't that long either, Walter stood in it waiting impatiently with the occasional glance at his watch and the usual irritated sigh. After about 5 minutes of waiting he started tapping his foot, to great annoyance of the woman in front of him.

"You know, we haven't been standing in line _that_ long…", she said coolly without looking at him whatsoever.

"Yes well, I personally don't enjoy waiting".

"Oh, so you _dare_ to admit that you are probably, without your own knowledge of course, an impatient, satanic, control freak. How _interesting_…".

"_Excuse_ me!".

"And of course quite _amusing_…".

Walter was flabbergasted. Never had anyone, not a single person made such an analysis of him. It had to be wrong of course! Never in his life had he been satanic, controlling and he was only impatient now because he just wanted to get this break over with!

"Oh lookie here! I'm next! See you later alligator!"

Walter looked at her sceptically. The woman was a rather tall, African American, with dreadlocked hair which was tied up, giving Walter view of her large, heavy golden hoop earrings. She seemed to be wearing a ring around each one of her ten black, slim yet slightly bony fingers, around her wrists which were also quite thin she wore at least a dozen of bracelets which seemed or at least looked like they had been made out of ivory. The woman was carrying four heavy looking bags and as she was speaking to the girl behind the check-in counter she was waving her hands, drawing circles in the air while doing so.

The woman smiled, handed her back her passport and helped her put her bags onto the… _thing_. Damn, what's the name for that! What did they call _that_ _thing_ anyway!

"Excuse me…sir?", the friendly female voice of the girl behind the check in counter, pulled him out of his thought on what the _thing_ was called. He stepped up, showed his passport, received his tickets and was sent on his way to go past the security gate. He walked to the waiting room, where he sat down next to a person who was reading a Japanese newspaper intensively. Walter gave the newspaper a glance, he didn't understand a single thing that was written on the back pages.

He saw the black woman sitting a few rows in front of him. He made no attempt to go and ask for neither an apology nor an explanation about what she had said. His pride as a protestant wouldn't allow him, so instead he sat back and listened to what was being said over the speakers…

He looked around him just to see the rest of the crowd. There was a woman with two small children, an old man older than himself, the man next to him with the newspaper, a young married couple with a baby, two teenagers and presumably their father, a tall black man in a business suit, a skinny white woman with a "New York Times" news paper and then of course there was…hey, where'd the black woman go? Walter looked around the place not getting up from his chair of course, but he saw no-one who looked like her.

He relaxed somewhat. That meant she wasn't on his flight. The very sight of her seemed to irritate him, her wavy voice annoyed him and the fact he had missed out on her leaving this space definitely ticked him off!

"Flight 357 from London to Tokyo airport, gate A open to passengers with an even number on their tickets".

A few people took their tickets out of their pockets to look at their numbers. Walter looked down at his, 346, even number. He stood up and walked to the gate, a woman looked at his ticket and let him pass. He walked to the plane and went up the stairs. Once inside he looked for his number. He passed several numbers before he found his seat, he put his bag in the compartment above it. He sat down in the seat assigned to him by the ticket, a window seat. He looked down at the next line of people, most of them had been waiting inside the same space as him.

He sighed and tore his eyes off the view outside. He concentrated his thoughts on the plastic instruction flyer in front of him on the back of somebody else's chair. The grey stick figures represented passengers in extreme cases of anxiety, plane crashes and smoke or a fire inside the plane.

_Not very reassuring…_, Walter thought, trying to divert his attentions onto something else. A book! If he read a book, maybe he wouldn't be this anxious…no wait! He wasn't anxious…probably just bored! He stood up and fished his book out of his bag. _City of the beasts_, by _Isabel Allende_, a great book in his opinion. He seated himself in his chair once more and opened his book on the first page. He had already read this book many times before, you could ask him to quote any page, ANY page and he would, every word. Walter chuckled, the hobbies of a hobby-less man. He started reading, getting all the more absorbed in the tale as the minutes passed by.

"Oh dear god…_do not tell me_ that I'm seated next to _YOU_", a wavy voice next to him flowed rhythmically, as if it were a small river flowing in the middle of the footpath of the plane. Walter looked up. There she was, standing there looking at the seat number on her ticket, and back at the number underneath the bag compartment. Ending her confusion with a grunt and flopping herself down into the seat next to him, Walter decided that the best thing to do was to ignore her completely. He returned his attentions back onto his book.

"For someone with _no taste_ in life, you _do have_ taste in books", Walter heard her say through the many jingling noises of her bracelets.

"So you are rude wherever you go, miss…?"

"Conner, Zemekia Conner, and you are…?"

"Dorne, Walter Cum Dorne".

She opened a book of her own, _Queen of the_ Damned by _Anne Rice_, a good book. It suited her. Walter returned his attentions back to his book, but found it hard to find the same concentration he had had only moments ago. This was mainly caused by the continuous jingling of the bracelets around the woman's wrist, as she drew circles in mid air, or twirled a strand of her hair between two of her main digits.

He slammed his book shut and asked heatedly to this Zemekia character to stop it. She simply smiled or grinned, it was hard to tell the difference, let go of her hair and put both hands on the sides of her book. Her malignant twinkling eyes scanned the pages of her book, Walter watched in awe as this _creature, _one who he could consider to be quite the pestwas reading her book. Did he look like that when he was fixated in one of his novels?

"Stop staring, it's not like I'll start tearing out the pages of my book and eat them, now is it?", her wavy voice cut through his thought. But this remark went into one ear and out the other. Walter heard four sharp snapping sounds, he blinked four times on automatism. Zemekia sat there, leaned forward so far that all he could really see were her misty grey eyes and the slim outline of her nose.

SNAP! Another snap of her main digits, the fifth one so far. Walter felt his limbs go numb, his eyelids got heavy and he felt himself drift away into a deep sleep. And as he was about to his hit head against the small window, two dark hands shot out and caught him, putting his head against the soft fabric of his seat. All the while he drifted into an even deeper sleep…

Walter felt a drop of water fall on his face. His eyes sprung open, _where am I,_ was the first question that came to his mind. He appeared to be lying underneath a sink, he must've been repairing something. Probably just a leak in the drainpipe, next to him lay all that he needed to fix it. So he did. It was a job that went faster than expected, but all in all: a job well done. He got out from underneath the sink, wiped his hands clean and his monocle and stood up.

"Hey! You done already? That's fast!". Walters eyes went wide with both surprise and shock, there she was, standing there smiling…like she always had been when he was there. This had to be a dream…yet…everything…the water droplets, the material to fix the leaking drainpipe…had all felt so real…so real that it made Walter think pinching himself wasn't going to help him out.

"Adrianna?"

"Hm? What's wrong?"

"Is…James here too?", Walter thought it sounded childish…but he just couldn't stop himself from asking.

"Yeah, he's out back. Playing with the kids, why do you ask?"

"Just wanted to know…that's all…"

Walter took another good look at her, her bright green eyes, her sparkling white teeth, her long black hair, the three rings on her index finger. This was just too real to just be a dream, the air around him, the sun warming his back…_how_ did this happen? _How_ did he get here?

"I think I'll go and see how things are with James and the kids, care to join me?"

Walter had no idea what was happening, whether this was some sort of dream or reality. Without saying a word he followed Adrianna to the living room, outside the living room window was the usual setting that one would see, a normal, middle class Canadian neighbourhood with tasteful, modest homes for families with children. Adrianna had already disappeared into the backyard, while Walter still stood there…rooted and determined to figure out if this was a dream or if this was something else.

A scream hauled him back to reality in a rather violent way. The scream had belonged to Adrianna, it had been a horrifying scream, had someone been _hurt_? Did they get _attacked_? Walter tore his eyes of the scenery outside the living room window and dashed off to see what had happened.


End file.
